Crazy
by WarOnTheBeach
Summary: Dave Strider finds himself in a hospital where shocking secrets are revealed to him about his life.


Fire. Fire everywhere.  
Mountains of flames as tall as buildings engulfed what appeared to have formally been a small village.

_What the hell is going on?_

Dave Strider weakly tried to sit up. Dazed, he examined his surroundings. Accidentally inhaling thick black smoke, his lungs burned and he began to uncontrollably cough.

_Where am I?_

A blood curdling shriek drew his attention towards what looked like had been some type of house, but it was now unrecognizable due to the raging fire. Dave struggled to see past the thick smoke and saw a girl with long black hair on her hands and knees as the flames slowly consumed her. "Please help me!" she wept desperately, making eye contact with Dave.

_Is that...Jade?_

A pang of fear shot through Dave's entire body. A sickening feeling filled him as he realized he was in SBurb and Jade was going to die if he didn't do something. Dave struggled to sit upright, and despite using all of his strength, he couldn't will himself to stand up. The smoke was making it difficult for him to breathe, and he began to feel dizzy as Jade continued to cry for help. Becoming frustrated at his helplessness, to his dismay, a single tear trickled down his cheek.

_Cool kids don't cry. _

He remained on the ground paralyzed, unable to do anything but sit back and watch as Jade was slowly consumed by the fire. "Dave! Dave please help me! Please..." Her cries became weaker. Dave remained immobile and stared at her trying unsuccessfully to hold back tears.

"Jade hold on...I'll...figure something out. We're gonna be fine I promise." Dave said in the most reassuring voice he could muster. He knew this was a lie though; they were both going to die if he didn't do something. Fast. Dave racked his brain for a solution but the smoke made his thoughts foggy.

"Hey! I think he's waking up!" came an eager voice from the distance.

"Who's there?" Dave tried to yell, but he was so weak, it was barely a whisper. Soon his head began to pound, and the grey sky turned black, and then purple, and then white; a blinding white. A white that was so bright, Dave had to snap his neck back and shield his eyes.

Dave's eyes adjusted from the bright light and he saw a beautiful girl standing over him. She had glossy black shoulder length hair, a clear pale complexion, and the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. She wore an expression mixed with relief and pure happiness. "Oh Dave! Dave, you're okay!" She exclaimed, and then to Dave's surprise she grabbed his face and kissed him.

"Damn, if this is what the afterlife is like, I could get used to this." Dave said.

_No, that was so stupid. I sound so lame. The hot dead girl thinks I'm lame._

Her happy expression was immediately replaced by one of extreme worry. "Afterlife...?" She said her gaze turning to someone out of Dave's vision. "Does this mean he doesn't remember me?"

Dave's eyes adjusted to his new setting. He realized he was in a room with plain white walls that was filled with medical equipment. To his embarrassment he looked down, and found that he was laying in a hospital bed, and was totally naked except for a thin paper gown. He tentatively brought a hand to his face and realized he wasn't wearing his shades..

A man with gray hair and a clipboard, who Dave presumed was a doctor, spoke to the beautiful girl. "Well, memory loss is a common side effect, after all, and we do have to remember he has just been very heavily medicated so we can expect some drowsiness and irritability. Also we need to consider-"

"Where the hell are my shades?! What the hell is going on?!" Dave yelled, interrupting the doctors spiel.

"Mr. Strider, please calm down and allow me to explain." The doctor said.

"No I need my shades. Now." The doctor obliged and handed over Dave's glasses. At least with his shades on he didn't feel so naked. "Okay doc, now kindly tell me what the hell is going on."

"Before I do that I'd like to ask you a few procedure questions. State your name and age." The doctor said, speaking completely calm and a bit too peppy for Dave's liking.

"Goddamn, whatever man. I'm Dave Strider and I'm 16 years old. Happy?"

"Very interesting..." The doctor mumbled scribbling furiously on his clipboard. "Okay, Mr. Strider, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Uh, I was playing SBurb, and I was trying to save my friend and everything was on fire. Alright man I'm done with these questions, what the hell am I doing here?"

The doctor ignored him and continued taking notes on his clipboard. "Very interesting indeed..."

The beautiful girl now looked extremely worried and reprimanded the doctor. "How is this interesting?! He doesn't remember anything! He thinks he's 16."  
The girl looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Not to worry, the memory loss is temporary. Why don't you introduce yourself and explain some things to him. I'm sure you could explain much better then I."

The girl nodded and walked over to Dave and sat herself on the edge of his bed. "Do I look at all familiar to you?" She asked hopefully.

"No, I'm sure I would remember someone like you." Dave said in an attempt to sound smooth.

The girl blushed. "You'd be surprised..well um.. Hi Dave! We uh..we have met before actually...I'm Jade Harley, your.. um..wife.." She smiled nervously and then held up her hand which had a gold wedding band.

Dave opened his mouth to say something and then quickly closed it. His gaze dropped to his hand and he saw that he wore a ring as well. "But your not...I mean you don't look like...what?!" Stuttering was definitely not cool but Dave was too shocked to form coherent sentences. After closer inspection the girl did look like Jade-but more grown up. She had tamed her once frizzy hair, straightened her crooked teeth, and had gotten rid of her glasses. She still had the same beautiful green eyes though.

"Well, yeah I grew up Dave. I mean, you did too. That's actually why you're here. You've been acting strange at home lately..forgetting things..and constantly talking about this insane game you called Sburb or something. And...well..Dave I just got really worried about you. I want you to get better. I really really love you."

"But...I don't understand." Dave said dumbfounded. "Sburb did happen..you were there!"

Jade shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry Dave. It's not real." She tenderly rested her hand on his cheek. "Please go to sleep Dave. We'll be able to talk more when you wake up. Hopefully your memory will be back by then."

Dave shot up out of bed. "Hell no, I'm not goin' to sleep! I am not crazy Jade!"

"Please calm down Mr. Strider." The doctor said swiftly walking over to Dave carrying a large needle.

"Jade, tell him I'm not crazy! Sburb is real. You were there, please..I know you remember. " The doctor injected Dave with the needle which instantly made his eyes heavy. "Please Jade..." He whispered softly, suddenly very tired. "Please remember."

"I'm sorry, Dave, I...I don't know what you're talking about." Her voice cracked and tears trickled down her face. Dave looked at her, suddenly seeming so young and crestfallen, and then he fell into a deep state of sleep.

"He'll be up in a few hours," the doctor said promptly and walked out of the room.

"I'm so sorry." Jade whispered to an unconscious Dave, and began to quietly sob into his chest.


End file.
